Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfectly executed fiction for teens, May 23, 2009
The book tells the story from the alternating points of view of two characters. Grace has been watching the wolves outside her Mercy Falls, Minnesota home every winter. She is drawn to one in particular that has stunning yellow eyes, and she's certain that it is the same wolf who saved her from a pack of wolves who attacked her when she was a young girl.
Sam leads two lives. In the spring and summer, he's human, but when the cooler temperatures of autumn descend upon him, it's not long before he turns into a wolf for the winter. The problem with being a werewolf is that the longer you're a wolf, the less time you spend in your human form until one spring, you don't change back and are forever a part of the wolf world.
When Grace meets Sam, one look at his yellow eyes makes her certain that he's her wolf. They are drawn to each other and it doesn't take them long to realize that they've been in love for years as impossible as it may seem. As the temperatures get cooler, Sam and Grace struggle to keep him human, but the bitter cold and other obstacles threaten to take him away from her forever.
What I love about Maggie Stiefvater's writing, especially in Shiver, is that it's completely seamless: the transitions between the two main characters' points of view and the way that she brings werewolves into what seems like a perfectly normal world. I'm one of those people who rarely reads chapter titles or headings because I find them distracting, and not once did I have to glance up at the beginning of a chapter to see who was speaking. Sam and Grace have their own distinct voices and characteristics, but the switch from character to character is not jarring the way I've seen it in a lot of other books. And the coolest thing? Grace and Sam each have their own strengths and complement each other well. I love to see strong female characters in books for teens, and Grace is definitely smart and strong and can take care of herself.
But what I love the most about Ms. Stiefvater's writing is her ability to depict chemistry between two characters--first with Dee and Luke in Lament and now with Sam and Grace. She's masterful at showing and not telling: glances, touches, dialogue, and thoughts all create a completely believable love between a girl and a werewolf.
Shiver is a perfectly executed book, and I continue to be impressed with Maggie Stiefvater's writing.
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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I highly recommend curling up next to the air conditioner with this one., July 1, 2009
I adore this book.
Shiver is told through the two main characters, Sam and Grace, and I loved them both. The first-person narration moves between them seamlessly and is never jarring. Spending time with Sam and Grace is enjoyable; they are believable, likeable characters with flaws and quirks and all the things that make people people. The supporting characters are equally well-drawn, if not always equally likeable.
Moreover, the plot is original. Sam is a werewolf, and in the world of the novel, werewolves are human in the heat of summer and wolves in the cold of winter. As the werewolves age, however, their human-time decreases until they remain wolves until death. And Sam feels his last summer coming on just as he and Grace get to know one another.
Sam and Grace's star-crossed romance is at times cute and steamy, but always genuine. There are some PG-13 moments, but these are handled tastefully; I never felt that Shiver was dirty or overly descriptive.
And the words, oh the words! The language is more than descriptive; it's poetic. When I wasn't busy being absorbed by the plot, I was drinking in Stiefvater's descriptions; I felt the Minnesota winter of the novel. I frequently reread sentences and lingered over well-worded paragraphs. And on top of that, Maggie Stiefvater is funny! I laughed many times, and you probably will too.
Finally, the ending is abrupt but satisfying. I was left with a smile...and a craving for the sequel (Linger, which is due in Fall 2010). I highly recommend curling up next to the air conditioner with this one.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Yet another werewolf story with more plot holes than bright ideas, October 8, 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Grace is obsessed. Not only does she use her free time to stare out at the wolves behind her house, she can't quit thinking about them. Maybe it has something to do with the attack she suffered years ago or maybe it has to do with the yellow-eyed wolf. The yellow-eyed wolf stares back at her. Sam has a dual life. By winter he's a wolf and by summer he's a boy. And even though he's never exchanged a word with Grace, his heart stays with her no matter which form he's in.
SHIVER and I may have gotten off on the wrong foot. I intensely loathe chapters that are only two paragraphs long and Stiefvater seems to love them. Also, I wasn't a big fan of the point of view switching between Sam and Grace constantly. I suppose the writing style in general bothered me. It's just a touch more teen drama than I prefer--which I suppose I risk any time I venture into the young adult genre, but has so far not had a problem with until SHIVER. These complaints, of course, are entirely personal preference.
SHIVER is very much a love story. It's only a sad thing that I found the romance to be one of the weakest parts in the book. Now, I'm not saying every romance has to be full of conflict and whatnot, but I do like to see the couple at least have a bumpy road. In SHIVER Sam and Grace cling together like they were doused in superglue. Any possible argument or disagreement they have is almost immediately ended because, "Oh, baby, I love you and our time together may be too short." Not in those words exactly, but close. I guess I'm trying to say the romance, because of its utter lack of conflict is not only too syrupy sweet, but also just bland.
There is one issue that Sam and Grace must deal with, that I thought was pretty interesting. This ties into Stiefvater's version of werewolves. In SHIVER werewolves turn because of the cold, so they tend to stay in wolf form all winter and change back into humans during the summer. Sometimes, wolves stop changing back... Sam is fighting turning into his wolf for the winter to be with Grace--for fear he may not ever come back to her. Still, while this knowledge hands over everyone's head, it's not very threatening most of the time in the book and doesn't truly create as much struggle as it should or could.
Because there's no conflict in the largest thread of the book, the romance, Stiefvater has to dredge up a conflict somewhere else. What she comes up with is the search of a newly made and unhappy werewolf for the 'cure' to werewolf-ism. If this had been fleshed out at all, perhaps I could have swallowed the idea. Instead, the unhappy wolfman latches onto the idea of Grace somehow devising a 'cure' because she had been bitten but never turned into a werewolf. Meanwhile, of course, we get no real insight into that particular character's motivations and are strung through the explanation through very sketchy circumstances. Obviously, 2+2=5 in his case.
And then there's all the massive plot holes and details that just don't quite jive with the story. As a warning, the rest of the review contains some vague SPOILERS.
Grace is a kid without parents with parents. What I mean is, Stiefvater explains her parents away as her dad is always working and her mom always painting and both rarely in the house. In fact, both parents are so often away that neither notice the fact that Sam has been living in Grace's room for weeks. This ends up feeling more like the wishing of a teenager than any plausible plot device. Next, the story speaks about Grace's traumatic post-bite childhood which she blithely rattles off late in the story. Apparently, at age 11 she was locked in the car and nearly died because of the heat. Does an 11-year-old really have to worry about being locked into the car? I mean, even with child-safety locks (which were not mentioned in the story), wouldn't a child by that age know to hop into the front seat and let herself out up there? I don't know, the entire explanation seemed like a write-off attempt to not have to explain why Grace never changed into a werewolf. It's about as questionable--and related--to the unhappy, 'cure'-hunting werewolf's equation. Also, the author loses threads of plot and characters. Such as Shelby--who disappears and reappears, but to no purpose in the story. Lastly, I would mention that many aspects of the end and true 'cure' do not make sense at all and seem incredibly haphazard.
I almost feel a little guilty giving this book such a low score, because it's just so harmless; however, the fact it's harmless fun doesn't make it any better. SHIVER is just too much like a clumsy attempt at writing out a teenager's wish to find a paranormal boy to love and live happily ever after with despite the haphazard outside attempts to break them apart (that truly make little sense). Despite one brush of originality when creating the werewolves, SHIVER deserves this score due to the irritating writing, huge plot holes, and bland romance.
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